Welcome to Potato Genebank Chile - UACh

The UACh Potato Genebank – facts & perspectives out of one of the Centres of Origin of the S. tuberosum potato.

Chile is a very rich country in genetic resources. One of the Chilean treasures is the Potato Genebank at the Universidad Austral de Chile (UACh), who contains the major national collection of native potatoes. A big importance has the S. tuberosum subsp. tuberosum collected on the Chilean Island named Chiloé.

The main goal of the UACh Potato Genebank is the preservation of the genetic diversity of Solanum spp., promoting the development of new cultivars with adaptation on new agroecological areas and/or agronomic conditions.

The Potato Genebank has a base collection, an active collection and a working collection and was started in 1941 by Alvaro Montaldo and maintained at Centinela by the Chilean Ministry of Agriculture until 1958 where the Universidad Austral de Chile took the responsibility of the maintenance.